Detroit Holds Payroll Audit For City Employees

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) – Are city employees picking up checks when they shouldn’t?

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing’s office is verifying who actually works and receives checks from the city as part of a payroll audit.

The payroll verification audit will be conducted by the city’s Finance Department on Feb. 24, Feb. 27 and March 3 at various locations throughout the city, requiring employees to pick up their pay check with state issued identification or a passport.

Bing presented his ID and picked up his pay stub Friday morning.

“We want to make sure that we’re paying people who come to work for the city of Detroit,” said Bing.

Finance Director Cheryl Johnson said she doesn’t expect to find any “ghost employees” with the audit, which is part of Detroit’s efforts to be fiscally responsible and eliminate waste and fraud.

“There are a lot of scams that have gone over for a long period of time where I think we’ve not done a good enough job from an administration standpoint ensuring that they money is being paid out to the appropriate people who come to work every day and work for the city of Detroit,” said Bing.

The mayor said he hopes to avoid the appointment by Gov. Rick Snyder of an emergency manager to oversee the city’s finances. The city’s budget deficit is pegged at about $200 million, and Bing has voiced concerns over a possible cash-flow shortfall.

Last month, Bing released an 18-month plan that calls for $102 million in savings through June and $258 million over the 2013 fiscal year, but those hinge on how far he gets with the unions and the city’s 11,000 employees.